#tem: longwing

[travellingdragon]

A Guide to Identifying Dragons at a Distance - British Breeds

[resgestaevitaquedraconum]

Longwing

Origin: Britain Weight class: middle-weight presumably; bigger than Yellow Reapers (b.1, ch.12, p.304) but also not counted amongst the heavy-weights (b.8, ch.7, p.132) or the biggest dragons at Pen Y Fan (b.5, ch.2, p.25)

Appearance:

dark blue body (Lily, b.4, ch.6, p.155)

very dramatic wing colouration: orange at the tips which fades into a dusky blue over the length of the wing, with black-and-white ripples/striations at the rims (Lily, b.1,ch.5,p.110, 1.1), iridescent shine in the sun (b.4, ch.5, p.155), blue can be more purple (Excidium) and orange more yellow (Mortiferus) (b.5,ch.8,p.137) when folded up: look brown thanks to overlapping blue and orange, with only the black-and-white standing out (b.1,ch.8,p.189)

very good, yellow-orange eyes like a Sharpspitter’s (1.1), also described as fiery (b.4,ch.4,p.102) or golden (b.1, ch.9, p.240), called alarming more than once

rarely longer than 60 feet, wingspan of 120 feet not uncommon; which makes them impossible to decoy and also easy to spot on the battlefield (1.1); their silhouette alone is recognisable (b.7, ch.16, p.279)the dimensions and colouration of Lily’s wings make her instantly recognisable as a Longwing to Laurence (b.1,ch.5,p.110)

“pitted bone spurs on either side of [Lily’s] jaw, evidently where the acid was ejected.” (b.1,ch.8,p.189)

Real world inspiration: According to wikipedia, Longwing can refer to butterflies (Heliconiinae) , falcons in the context of falconry or a kind of shoes. The zebra longwing (Heliconius charithonia) has a black and white striped wing pattern which could have been an inspiration. The overall comparatively long and thin wings of falcons with their striped patterns might also have been an inspiration. Or the name was just derived from the Longwings’ long wings.

Egg: Harcourt had been chosen for Lily’s egg by 1802 already, Lily must have hatched in 1804 but “‘was not properly expected to hatch for another five years at the earliest’” – Harcourt (b.1, ch.6, p.153); so incubation takes more than 7 years at least, usually

Development: when Gentius was newly hatched, his head was no bigger than his captain’s hand (b.5, ch.2, p.27)

Other:

will only accept female handlers/captains, a fact that is not publicised in the least (b.1,ch.6,p.141)

can glide/soar on their long wings which doesn’t use much energy (b.4, ch.6, p.155; b.5, ch.5, p.76)

can hold the speed of the Chinese Aerial Legions (nearly 15 knots = 27.78 km/h (17.26 mph)) (b.8, ch.11, p.234)

the sound of Lily’s wingbeat is likened to “heavy sailcloth-flapping” (b.4, ch.12, p.281)

acid-spitters

can spit acid (sometimes called poison (b.1,ch.8,p.211) or venom (1.1) or vitriol (b.9,ch.12,p.199)), black in colour (b.1, ch.11, p.271), smell: “a pinched sharp vinegary stink” (b.4, ch.12, p.281), “acrid bite” (b.8, ch.14, p.287)

one of three “truly vitriolic breeds” known to the British along with the Incan Copacati and the Japanese Ka-Riu (1.1)

strong enough to not only to attack other dragons but also targets on the ground (1.1), can eat through an entire ship (b.4,ch.5,p.123), as they flee the cave: it takes more than 2 h (presumably; 9 turns of the quarter glass (15 min)) until the rock is deemed safe to touch and even then there is some acid left down in the pits (b.4, ch.12, p.282), Lily’s acid on the cliff: “Laurence caught the gleam of translucent rock on the surface: a vein of quartz, perhaps, on which the venom might have pooled, unabsorbed.” (b.4, ch.12, p.285), the acid can weaken metal (b.4, ch.12, p.287)

release of acid is controlled by muscles, which are also involved in sneezing reflex, so when a Longwing sneezes they cannot help but spit some acid. For that reason they were put into sand pits when infected with the plage (b.2,ch.8,p.167); Conterrensis could not stop coughing; the acid built up in the spurs and started searing him (b.4, ch.4, p.88) Temeraire asks if it hurts when she sprays: “‘No, I do not feel it in the least;’ Lily answered. ‘The spray will only come out if I am pointing my head down, so I do not splash myself’” (b.1,ch.8,p.189)

high accuracy: Lily can destroy targets from nearly four hundred feet [121.9 m] in the air, out of the range of cannons but not pepper guns (b.1, ch.8, p.203)

acid leaves a characteristic spattering (b.8, ch.3, p.43) “Lily abruptly turned her head and made an angry spitting noise; a few droplets fell, but they sizzled and smoked upon the stone, leaving deep black pockmarks. [...] ‘Pray bring some harness oil, Peck,’ [Harcourt] said to one of her ground crewmen, climbing down; she poured it liberally over the acid droplets, until smoke ceased rising. ‘There, cover it with some sand, and tomorrow it should be safe to wash.’ (b.1,ch.8,p.193f.)

Longwing manoeuvres: designed so the dragons don’t scorch themselves with their own acid (b.4,ch.2,p.31), formations are designed to protect the Longwing (b.1, ch.8, p.203)

“the narrow wind-socks which stood up from Lily’s harness at various points”, maybe to figure out the direction the acid spray will take (b.8, ch.2, p.30)

importance

the reason why girls and women are trained by the Corps (b.2,ch.8,p.181)

“perhaps the most deadly English dragons, to be compared only with Regal Coppers, and without them the aerial defences of England would be hideously vulnerable.” (b.1,ch.6,p.142), “too valuable to place anywhere but the center of a formation” (b.2,ch.2,p.33)

2 Longwing formations are stationed at Dover in book 1; Excidium and Mortiferus (b.1,ch.8,p.202), 3 then with Lily which is deemed enough so that Napoleon would not invade England by air (b.2,ch.7,p.146)

prioritised when it comes to the distribution of the cure for the plague (b.4,ch.7,p.160)

“Lily raised her wings and flared them out a little: the brilliant orange and purple would have warned any European beast, and their immense wingspan” (b.8, ch.2, p.32); British dragons think it’s satisfying to have a Longwing with them (b.5, ch.5, p.72); seniority amongst dragons according to acid-spitting skill despite not being the biggest dragons

breed history: 

Sharpspitters, which were deemed too small and low-flying to be of great value for fighting despite its venom, were cross-bred with French Honneur-d’Ors (for size) and Russian Ironwings (also venomous), which yielded “several valuable crosses: better fliers, middleweight in size, with more potent venom. Interbreeding among these, with frequent infusions from the parent breeds, culminated in the successful hatching of the first dragon which can properly be termed a Longwing, during the reign of Henry VII” (1485–1509) with a venom potent enough to be called acid (1.1)

at first considered intractable (and there were thoughts about killing them since they were deemed too dangerous unharnessed) until Elizabeth I (reign: 1558–1603) (1.1) had her serving-maid harness one (b.2,ch.13,p.282)

“they were instrumental in the destruction of the Armada” (1588) (1.1)

dragons used to have a female handler (called Miss) and a male captain; when Captain Haulding was too drunk for duty but Gentius’ formation was needed, his (potentially first) handler stepped up (telling the crew to either follow her command or stay behind) and was made captain in the aftermath (b.5, ch.13, p.245f.)

Known dragons: 

Conterrenis (m.) † – Gardenley

Excidium (m.) – J. Roland, 3rd hatchling of Gentius (b.5, ch.2, p.26)

Gentius (m.), at least 3 captains (b.5, ch.5, p.72)

Lily (f.) – Harcourt

Mortiferus (m.) – St. Germain

[travellingdragon]

[travellingdragon]

Happy (belated) Appreciate a Dragon Day! I was so busy colouring these guys that I missed it ^^

Kazilik, just based on the description of Iskierka and her parents

Kazilik, based on one that Laurence remembers seeing at the Nile

Berghexe, based on a drawing I did 11ish years ago and the Berghexe butterfly (Chazara briseis)

Regal Copper, the pattern has no specific reference but I tried to use colours from a few butterflies: the large copper (Lycaena dispar), the fiery/golden copper (Lycaena thetis) and the ruddy copper (Lycaena rubidus)

Pascal's Blue, went with the colours I picked about a year ago

Sea Serpent, based on the dragon moray (Enchelycore pardalis)

Longwing, I just love their colours :3

Roi-de-Vitesse, based on @mist-the-wannabe-linguist's design

Wattläufer

[travellingdragon]

A sleepy Malachite Reaper, and a Longwing and a Grey Copper meeting in the sky.

[travellingdragon]

Pencil sketches of dragons in the Highlands.

Malachite Reaper over a loch

Two dragons flying over a glen, one of them a Longwing

A Longwing at target practice

[travellingdragon]

Realised that I had a few finished sketches I never shared, so:

Temeraire at the Cliffs of Dover during a Storm

Sea Serpent

& 4. Temeraire, Lily and Maximus at Loch Laggan

[travellingdragon]

A bit late but I finally finished the discord server's Longwings challenge; aka drawing each others' Longwing designs!

🧡 @lordbrezel, @nighttimepatrons, @skelettflickan, @a-pepper-honey, @missmazzira and that last one is mine